ryooxxx/webdav_systemd_mount

A systemd service file to mount automatically a WebDAV FS on boot.

Automatically mount a WebDAV FS on boot

Information and prerequisites

• Note that systemd .mount files can also be used.
• We assume that :
  • You want to connect on the WebDAV FS using HTTPS (and not HTTP).
  • The WebDAV certificate is signed by a CA and you own the CA certificate.
  • The Common Name value used in the certificate is correct.
  • The WebDAV access is secured by a password.
• The procedure below has been tested on a clean Ubuntu 20.04 VM.

Configuration

Install the needed packages. The question Should unprivileged users be allowed to mount WebDAV resources? may be asked. Answer no.

sudo apt install davfs2

Save the sample file.

sudo mv /etc/davfs2/secrets /etc/davfs2/secrets.save

Create a secrets file to store credentials.

sudo vim /etc/davfs2/secrets

Paste the following inside. Replace the username (<user>) and password (<password>) values. They are the credentials used to access the WebDAV FS.

/mnt/webdav <user> <password>

Set the correct permissions.

sudo chmod 600 /etc/davfs2/secrets

Create the directory that we specified.

sudo mkdir /mnt/webdav

Put the CA cert (which signed the WebDAV certificate) in /etc/davfs2/certs/. Edit the davfs2 configuration file.

sudo vim /etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf

Change the trust_ca_cert line to the following (replace the your_ca.crt value).

trust_ca_cert     /etc/davfs2/certs/your_ca.crt

Create a new systemd service file.

sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/webdav.service

Paste the following (adapt the content). Replace the WebDAV URL (https://server-name/webdav) by yours. Replace the user_name value by YOUR username.

[Unit]
Description=WebDAV
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/sleep 5
ExecStart=/usr/bin/mount -t davfs https://server-name/webdav /mnt/webdav -o uid=user_name,gid=user_name
ExecStopPre=/usr/bin/sync /mnt/webdav
ExecStop=/usr/bin/fusermount -u /mnt/webdav/
RemainAfterExit=true

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Reload the systemd files and enable the new service.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable /etc/systemd/system/webdav.service

Test that everything is working

Start the systemd service.

sudo systemctl start webdav.service

Print the status. Everything should be OK.

sudo systemctl start webdav.service

Print the /mnt/webdav directory content. You should see your files.

ll /mnt/webdav/

Debug / questions

• If your WebDAV service is accessible through a VPN tunnel, you may want to start this WebDAV systemd service only after the tunnel has been established. Then, for example if you use a Wireguard VPN (and that it is managed by systemd), replace the line After=network-online.target by After=network-online.target wg-quick@wg0.